The New Legacy
by Hydroflare
Summary: The Clans perish in their lake home and a group of cats is chosen by StarClan to find a new one. Can they escape the lake alive? [I'm planning to make a set of 14 books in this first series. Each book is going to be about 10-20 chapters long. I'm putting this story on hiatus until I finish The House of Hades, so that it's finished before October. Then I'll be back, guys! Sorry!]
1. The Fifth Clan

**The Fifth**

**Clan**


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Braveheart padded along the Shadowclan border.

"We have little cats now. From now on only one cat must be used to patrol each of the four borders, and six cats should be on one hunting patrol. The prey is so scarce that we must do whatever we can to catch prey." Twigstar had announced.

Braveheart sighed. This had been the hardest Greenleaf the Clans had ever seen. Their water sources had been contaminated by twolegs, their prey had been poisoned or scared into their burrows, and at the last Gathering, the leaders had decreed the no more licking was to be allowed, in hopes that less cats would get infected by the poison, which seemed to cover the ground, invisible. Now it was a common sight to see ungroomed pelts and dirty paws. Even medicine cats were only allowed out of camp if they were carried, as if the poisons made contact with their paws, them the leaves and flowers that they used, then the cats' mouths… Braveheart shivered. Shaking off the sense of dread that clung to his pelt, he kept walking.

The pine trees of Shadowclan had been stripped to twigs. They could not survive, and the only hope was to find a new home. Even so, they stood the chance of getting hit by a twoleg thing that made a huge banging sound and set fire to the earth. The horseplace, already abandoned, had been hit by one six sunrises ago. WindClan had been affected gravely. There were only about ten cats left in Windclan now; mainly Warriors. There had been three apprentices too, but only one remained as the other two had gotten killed by the twoleg thing that had hit the horseplace, and the other one by poisoning. RiverClan was much worse. There were only seven cats left. ShadowClan was by far the healthiest Clan. They had twenty-five warriors, and four apprentices. As for ThunderClan, Braveheart's Clan, they were fine, with twenty one cats.

Now, every moon, each clan tried their best to have new kits, in hopes that they would still have enough cats after the war ended.

Braveheart ran back to camp, finishing the patrol. It was time for his own kits'-Bumblekit's, Moonkit's and Darkkit's- apprentice ceremonies, and his own apprentice's- Mistypaw's, along with Firepaw's and Graypaw's warrior ceremony.

"Let all those cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the

highledge for a Clan meeting," Twigstar yowled.

As the cats gathered, Braveheart padded to the apprentices den and nudged Mistypaw awake. "It's time for the ceremony."

Mistypaw complained as she woke. "Would you mind? I was chasing this really

fat mouse…" her eyes filled with dismay and embarrassment when she realized that

she had snapped at her mentor. Her eyes flooded with realization. "It's my warrior ceremony! Oh, and by the way, I'm sorry." Mistypaw had always spoken a little weirdly, by Braveheart was fine with it.

"Yes it is, but I doubt Twigstar will make you a warrior if you behave like that. Thank goodness it's been planned already. Now come on. We must go."

Twigstar looked around the camp. Realizing that all the warriors had gathered, he began.

"Bumblekit, Moonkit and Darkkit, please step forward." Twigstar meowed. The three kits stepped forward solemnly. Braveheart was surprised. Cinderfeather must have given them a strict lecture about behavior during the ceremony. They were usually all over the place.

"Bumblekit, from this day until you receive your warrior name, you will be called Bumblepaw."

"Bumblepaw! Bumblepaw!" the Clan cheered.

"Rockthorn," Twigstar continued, "You are a brave warrior. I trust you to pass all your knowledge to this apprentice."

Bumblepaw touched noses with Rockthorn, and padded away to join the other apprentices.

"Moonkit, from this day until you receive your warrior name, you will be called Moonpaw."

"Moonpaw! Moonpaw!" the clan cheered.

"Appletail, you nave been a courageous warrior. I expect you to give all of your brave spirit to Moonpaw."

Moonpaw touched noses with Appletail and padded away to join Bumblepaw.

"Darkkit, from this day until you receive your warrior name, you will be called Darkpaw."

"Darkpaw! Darkpaw!"

"Barkfrost, you have been a loyal and skillful warrior. I expect you to pass on all of it to Darkpaw."

Darkpaw touched noses with Barkfrost and padded to join Moonpaw and Bumblepaw.

Twigstar beckoned Mistypaw, Firepaw, Graypaw, Braveheart, Brackenthorn and

Rainfoot forward.

"Mistypaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code, and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

Mistypaw replied surely, "I do."

"Then by the powers of Starclan I give you your warrior name: Mistypaw, from this moment you will be known as Mistyfrost. Starclan honors your loyalty and strength, and we welcome you as a full warrior of Thunderclan." Twigstar stepped forward and rested his muzzle on her head. She gave him a respectful lick, then straightened up and padded over to join the other warriors.

"Firepaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code, and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

Firepaw paused for a moment, and then surely called out, "I do."

"Then by the powers of Starclan I give you your warrior name: Firepaw, from this moment you will be known as Fireblaze. Starclan honors your strength and honesty, and we welcome you as a full warrior of Thunderclan." Twigstar stepped forward and rested his muzzle on his head. He gave him a respectful lick, then straightened up and padded over to join the other warriors.

"Graypaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code, and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"Then by the powers of Starclan I give you your warrior name: Graypaw, from this moment you will be known as Grayfoot. Starclan honors your bravery and loyalty, and we welcome you as a full warrior of Thunderclan." Twigstar stepped forward and rested his muzzle on his head. He gave him a respectful lick, then straightened up and padded over to join the other warriors.

"As the warrior code decrees, these cats must stand vigil tonight." Twigstar continued.

"We also have sad news. Haretail has decided to stop being a warrior and retreat to the elders' den," Twigstar announced. "Haretail, is it your wish to step down from the duties of a warrior and become an elder?"

"Yes, it is," Haretail said surely.

"Then I allow you to join the elders. May StarClan grant you many moons of peace. This meeting is at an end."

"Wait!" Brackenthorn yowled.

"What do you have to report?" Twigstar asked.

"Rockthorn is having kits again," he mewed.

The clearing was filled with the congratulating yowls of cats.

"They'll be born in just under a moon," Brackenthorn finished.

Twigstar guided Brackenthorn off the rock and yowled, "The meeting is now officially at an end."

As cats herded off, Braveheart padded over to his former apprentice, Mistyfrost, and mewed, "Congratulations." Mistyfrost's reaction was a simple nod of her head.

As she bent down to lick her paw…

"Stop!" All the cats in the clearing yowled.

Mistyfrost was startled and fell on her side. As she got back up, dismay and recognition shone in her eyes, and she dipped her head in a gesture of apology.

As night fell, the cats padded away to their own dens. Mistyfrost, Fireblaze and Grayfoot stayed up.

Braveheart watched the three cats. They stood in a line at the top of the stone hollow.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

As he drifted into sleep, his vision blurred and he found himself in a dense forest. He looked around him. Stars glittered around the roots of trees.

_I'm in Starclan!_ He looked up and saw a cat padding towards him.

_It's Firestar!_ He straightened himself.

"What am I doing here?" he asked Firestar.

"We have a message for you," Firestar said.

Braveheart looked at Firestar in awe. A message!

"Great danger is coming. A _black twoleg thing_ will fall into the lake…and destroy the clans forever. We have chosen you." He spat out the words _black twoleg thing_ like it was crowfood.

"But I don't understand! What does the prophecy _mean?_"

"All will be made clear in time."

Firestar started to fade.

Braveheart raced forward. "Don't go! Tell me what you mean!"

As he pounced onto Firestar's dissolving body, it disappeared.

"All will be made clear." The words echoed around Braveheart. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them, he found himself back in his den. He looked at the ridge. It was sunny now, and the three cats had gone. _It must be already noon!_

He padded out of his nest. Twigstar was organizing the noon patrols.

"Right. Let's see…Braveheart, take the Windclan border, Brackenthorn, take the Shadowclan border, Tigerthorn, take the Lake Border, and Mistyfrost, take Fireblaze and Grayfoot with you to patrol the northern border."

Braveheart ran as swift as the wind to the Windclan border, quickly marked the trees, and ran right back to camp.

All of a sudden, a huge patrol of warriors stormed right into him, barreling him

off his paws.

"What's happened?" Braveheart asked.

Tigerthorn hasn't come back from the Lake border!" Hazelgorse panted.

Braveheart joined the rescue patrol. A couple of heartbeats later, they arrived, panting, at the Lake. Tigerthorn lay at the shore, unmoving. Hazelgorse picked up a stick with her paw and poked Tigerthorn. He didn't move.

Hazelgorse looked up, her eyes brimming with sorrow. "He's dead."

They remained silent for what seemed like a moon.

Brightheart meowed, "He must have-have drank the water, or-or licked himself."

Every inch of his body felt numb with grief.

"We can't risk taking his body back to camp. We might get infected."

"I'll roll him into the lake."

As Braveheart pushed Tigerthorn down to the lakeshore, Tigerthorn twitched.

Braveheart gasped. "Tigerthorn?" he mewed uncertainly.

Tigerthorn didn't answer. _I must have imagined it,_ Braveheart thought. As he continued pushing Tigerthorn to the lakeshore, he spotted a piece of black stuff under Tigerthorn. It must have been what had made Tigerthorn twitch. A twoleg thing, no doubt. He hesitated for a while, and in a moment of impulse, picked it up and put it in his pelt.

As Braveheart entered the camp, he spotted Twigstar leaping onto the Highrock and yowled, "May all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the highledge for a clan meeting!" Twigstar yowled. He nodded towards Braveheart and Roseheart, beckoning them to him.

"Goldenfur's kits are ready to become apprentices. Lakekit, Emberkit, please step forward."

Lakekit leaped over the cats, right into the center of them, while Emberkit padded slowly to the center. Cats parted to allow her to pass. He then beckoned Roseheart and Braveheart to the center of the cats.

_He must want us to mentor them!_ Braveheart thought.

"Lakekit, from this day until you receive your warrior name, you will be called Lakepaw. Emberkit, from this day until you receive your warrior name, you will be called Emberpaw."

"Lakepaw! Emberpaw! Lakepaw! Emberpaw!"

"Braveheart, you have been a courageous warrior, and have overcome all obstacles that have come your way. I trust you to mentor Lakepaw."

Lakepaw went over to touch noses with Braveheart.

"Roseheart, you have been a tactical and thoughtful warrior. I trust you to share your knowledge with Emberpaw."

Emberpaw touched noses with Roseheart.

"This meeting is at an end." Twigstar yowled.

"What will we do now?" Lakepaw asked, bouncing around with excitement.

"We'll take a tour of the territory," Braveheart meowed.

"Yay!" she raced off without seeing if Braveheart was coming.

Braveheart raced after her, purring at her enthusiasm.

She stopped at the Lake and dabbed a paw experimentally on the water.

She jumped back. "Brr, it's cold!"

"I know. Let's keep walking. Now, do you smell that stinky smell over there?

That's ShadowClan, and that rabbity smell over there is WindClan…"

That night, he collapsed in his nest, tired form all the walking around he had done that day.

He opened his eyes. An unfamiliar forest loomed in front of him. He wasn't in his nest, but was crouched on the roots of the great oak on the Island. A star fell down, and after what seemed like a moon or a single heartbeat, a handsome orange cat padded towards him.

He dipped his head. "Firestar."

"Greetings, young warrior."

"Why have you come to me?" Braveheart asked.

"Protect your apprentice, Braveheart. She has more power than the sharpest claw, the sharpest mind, even her warrior ancestors themselves…"

"What? Why is she even more powerful than StarClan?" Braveheart yowled.

"Protect your apprentice. She has power beyond your imagination…"

"Can't you just give me one straight answer?" Braveheart growled, stalking away.

"Remember…" voices seemed to echo around Braveheart.

"Go away!" He yowled, and started to run like the wind through the forest, the branches whipping at his face.

The harsh Greenleaf sun woke Braveheart. He blinked open his eyes and felt like his legs had been running through the forest all night. Then he remembered.

_The dream!_

He was doubtful that StarClan would have sent a dream to him. But then again, he knew that the only dreams that were real were those from StarClan. Why would he have so tired legs if he hadn't been in StarClan? Besides, why would StarClan talk to him? He wasn't a leader, or a medicine cat! He had only heard of Firestar, Brambleclaw, Feathertail, Crowfeather and Tawnypelt having those types of dreams. Besides, they had only been called upon to go on a journey to save the clans-his mother had told him that.

Why would they call on him?

The answer clicked in his head.

_Great danger is coming. A _black twoleg thing_ will fall into the lake…and destroy the clans forever. You have been chosen._ The words echoed in Braveheart's mind.

He gasped. Was it possible that he had been chosen to lead the Clans away from the Lake?


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Lakepaw bounded towards the warrior's den. Her mentor still hadn't come out. She wanted to go training _now_! As she neared the warrior's den, she saw Braveheart come out of the den. She bounded towards him.

Braveheart turned around, looked at her and said, "Are you ready to learn how to hunt?"

She nodded enthusiastically.

"Then follow."

She followed Braveheart out of the camp, and arrived at a sandy hollow. _I bet it's called the sandy hollow, 'cause it's so sandy!_

"Now, keep your body low, and try sneaking around."

She crept as low as she could.

"Keep your tail straight, your head up, and step lightly." Braveheart said.

She tried again, and Braveheart looked at her, impressed. "You've done it perfectly!"

She tried to conceal the purr rising in her chest. "Really?"

"Yes. Let's practice that some more, and then we'll move on to actually _catching _and _tracking _prey!"

Later that day, she ran from tree to tree, collecting the fresh-kill she had caught that day. Braveheart followed her, obviously impressed with her catch.

As she approached the old twoleg nest, she heard a faint growling. Braveheart had heard it too, but he was obviously ignoring it, so she did, too.

But as she started to dig up her fresh-kill, two gleaming eyes stared at her from a bush…and a huge black and white creature jumped out of it.  
Braveheart gasped. "Lakepaw, get into cover! This is a badger, the most dangerous animal to cats!"

But she didn't move, and as she stared at the badger something seemed to start in her mind, like a cat after a long sleep. As she kept staring, she felt herself grow bigger, her muscles begin to broaden, her paws becoming bigger and wider, and her fur turning black and gray.

Braveheart turned back…and jumped in terror.

She had become a badger.

For some reason this didn't surprise her, like she had known this since kithood.

All the badger fighting techniques clicked in her mind, and she launched herself right at the badger, claws out.

The badger fell to the ground with a startled grunt and yelled, "What are you

doing? You should be attacking the cat!"

She didn't answer, but kept on slashing and pummeling the badger and it finally admitted defeat, and raced off into the forest.

She stood, looking at the badger run, and only when it had gone did she focus on her cat's spirit, and slowly, her paws shrunk, her fur turned back to its original color, her body turned smaller and her whiskers grew back.

All of a sudden she realized what had happened, and started to tremble. _Am I a cat, or a badger?_ She wailed inwardly, confused.

Braveheart looked shaken, though not as shaken as she thought he would be.

"You transformed…into a badger." He started, sounding a lot more excited than shocked. _Weird,_ she thought.

"I…think it's best we keep it a secret." Braveheart said.

She nodded.

"So…you can transform into a badger? Can you transform into other animals too?" Braveheart asked.

"I've never tried. I think it's only when I need it that I transform, but maybe I just need to focus on an animal and I could transform into it." She answered.

"We'll see. Alright, let's try this squirrel."

Braveheart nudged one of the squirrels she had caught in front of her, but no matter how hard she focused, she couldn't make herself change.

"Oh." Braveheart sounded disappointed, and said, 'If you can transform into a badger, that's good enough."

_Good enough for what? _She thought.

A thought struck her. _Why was Braveheart so accepting of my special power? Did he know about it?_

These thoughts ran through her head as she padded into the camp, barely hearing the other warriors' words of approval, and padded into her den, lost in thought.

_She has more power than the sharpest claw, the sharpest minds, even her warrior ancestors themselves…_ Braveheart knew that Lakepaw could transform into a badger, but could she transform into other animals too? _Maybe it's just that the squirrel was already dead, _Braveheart thought. _I'll try tomorrow._

And he drifted into a pleasant sleep.

Or not so pleasant.

Braveheart found himself on one of the roots of the Great Pine on the Island. As he looked up, a blue-gray she-cat, a tortoiseshell she-cat and a ginger tabby tom padded across the tree that led to the Island.

Bluestar, Spottedleaf and Firestar. How great.

They didn't say anything, just dipped their heads to Braveheart. Bluestar meowed ominously, "Do not go here, for it is where the Clans will die."

Spottedleaf then said, "The Six are waiting."

Finally, Firestar stepped up, and finished, "The place where horses rest is the sanctuary."

They then disappeared into countless stars, which floated away when a wind blew.

For some reason, Braveheart didn't wake up.

All of a sudden, a bright light blinded him and when he blinked open his eyes, countless cats were on the Island. Four cats sat on four of the branches. Braveheart recognized one of them as Twigstar.

_It must be a gathering! But why is StarClan showing me this?_

As Twigstar opened his mouth to speak, a whistling sound filled the air, closely followed by the sound of a pebble dropping into water.

_What's happening?_

Braveheart turned his head to see a red, crusty rock-like surface replacing the rippling, cool blue waters of the Lake.

All of a sudden, all the water of the Lake blasted out of the huge hole that had been the resting place of it, and crashed down onto him. He tried to swim, but to no avail. He sunk like a stone. As time passed, he felt his lungs scream for air, and when he thought he couldn't stay underwater for any longer, he blinked and opened his eyes to find that he was back in his den.

_Why would StarClan warn me of the Island?_ Braveheart thought.

_The gathering! It's tonight!_

StarClan must have been warning him that tonight, the Clans would die out!

He rushed out of the warrior's den, convinced that he had to tell Twigstar. Now, where was Twigstar?

_There!_

Twigstar was sharing tongues with Hazelgorse beneath the Highledge, but as Braveheart ran to him, about to warn him, he felt something trip him, and when he was about to say something, an unseen force clamped his jaws shut. No matter how hard he tried to force them open, the unseen force kept his jaws closed.

After a long time of struggling, Braveheart finally understood, with an ominous feeling in his belly.

_This message is only for me and my apprentice._

He was sure that Lakepaw was part of the prophecy. She was more powerful

than StarClan. She _had_ to be part of the prophecy.

He padded to the apprentice's den, prodded Lakepaw with a claw and meowed, "Wake up. It's time for training."

She stirred, but didn't get up.

"Wake up!" Braveheart meowed, a little louder.

She blinked open her eyes, but didn't move.

"WAKE UP!" Braveheart yowled, getting impatient.

Shocked, Lakepaw jumped up into the air.

"Right. I'll pin a squirrel down for you, and you try to focus on it, okay?" Braveheart asked.

Sleepily, Lakepaw nodded her head.

"Right. Now _focus._"

Braveheart had a squirrel pinned under his paws. _This is my chance to see if she can transform into other animals!_

Lakepaw stared intently at the squirming orange-brown lump, and started to shrink. Her paws, which were orange, slowly shrunk and turned brown, her pelt, which was blue-gray, shrunk, changed into brown and became more fluffy. She had become a squirrel.

Braveheart padded over to her, releasing the squirrel. "Good job," he meowed.

She tipped her head, like she didn't understand.

"Good job," Braveheart repeated.

She didn't react, and after a couple of heartbeats she transformed back.  
"I can't understand catspeak while I'm transformed. I only understand the language of the animal that I've transformed into," she said.

"I see," Braveheart replied. "You've transformed into an animal, so it makes sense that you only understand their language, and not ours. This means that you not only change your body, but also your spirit, into the image if the animal. If we want to use this to our advantage, we'll have to figure out a way to communicate without using words. Thank goodness you know that you were once a cat, otherwise you could attack anyone in your way if you became a badger, or a fox."

Lakepaw nodded.

Braveheart decided that now was not the time to tell Lakepaw about the prophecy. There was until moonrise to go to the Horseplace.

"What will we do now? Lakepaw asked, bouncing up and down until she looked like she was a rabbit.

Braveheart stifled a purr. "I'll teach you some fighting moves now. "

"Yay!" Lakepaw raced into the forest, in the direction of the training hollow. "Let's go to the sandy hollow, then!"

Braveheart raced after her, yelling, "It's the training hollow! If we went to the sandy hollow, we would have to make the great journey every time we went training!"

As he spoke, Braveheart realized what would happen that night, with an ominous sinking feeling in his belly.

_We will leave the clans._


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

When they had finished training, Braveheart brought Lakepaw back to camp. He still hadn't told her about the prophecy.

"You can go rest for a while, and I'll call you up later."

"Why?"

Braveheart didn't answer.

"Oh-okay." She meowed, understanding what Braveheart wanted, and instantly quieted down.

Braveheart padded out of the den. Twigstar was choosing cats for the gathering. Braveheart didn't hear his name.

Lakepaw opened her eyes and found herself on one of the roots of the great oaks. A blue-gray she-cat padded over to Lakepaw, and said, "Do not go here, for it is where the clans will die. The six are waiting. The place where the horses rest is the sanctuary. We have chosen you."

"Who are you?" Lakepaw asked.

"I am Bluestar."

"What did you mean by _Do not go here, for it is where the clans will die_?"

"Braveheart knows."

For the first time Lakepaw saw a shimmer of stars on Bluestar's paws. "Are you a StarClan cat?"

"You know…" Bluestar said, slowly disappearing into petals, which blew away in the wind.

A sharp object poked Braveheart in the side. He grunted in protest and snuggled deeper into his nest. He had only just gotten some sleep.

The sharp object poked him again, harder. He grunted and snuggled even deeper into his nest, fluffing up his fur so that the thorn-sharp object wouldn't be able to prick his fur.

He felt his fur being parted and pain shot through his flank, like a searing flame, waking him up. It was so painful that not only did it make him wake up, it also made him jump up in pain. "Ow!"

Unfortunately, he had jumped so high that his head banged the top of the den, which made him fall down onto his nest a little too quickly. On the way, one of his whiskers was torn off, he felt a wrench in his back leg, and he finally thumped onto his bedding, which was torn to pieces by his claws, which had been unsheathed to let

him grip the ground, but had failed because the ground was stone.

"What are you doing? Get your leg off my head!" a low voice yowled. He looked back and saw Brackenthorn staring at him angrily. "That was the best sleep I've had in moons!"

Braveheart looked at his leg, and gingerly lifted it off Brackenthorn.

He looked around for the object that had poked him, and found Lakepaw staring at him in amusement, eyes gleaming, claws out, ready to prick his fur again. He dragged himself wearily out of his nest. "Right, what?" he asked Lakepaw.

"I had a dream-"

"Right, so you woke me up because of a dream. Good. Now-wait. What time is it?"

"Oh- it's almost time for the gathering."

Braveheart's blood ran cold. He'd forgotten to tell her about the prophecy!

All of a sudden, Lakepaw said, "No! I have something to ask you. Is there a cat called Bluestar in StarClan?"

"Uh…yes?"

"This is important!" Lakepaw said. "Please get up and head over to the Lake!" As she spoke her eyes flared.

"Uh…okay."

Braveheart got out of his nest and into the clearing, the sun setting, turning the sky orange. _I need to tell Lakepaw soon,_ the thought.

As he padded to the Lake, he couldn't help but wonder why Lakepaw was so urgent about it. In fact, why had she asked him if there was a cat in StarClan named Bluestar? She wouldn't have cared that much, let alone asked him! It must have been really important to her, because she had actually entered the warriors den just to wake him up, and spoken to him in this commanding tone.

When he reached the Lake, he saw Lakepaw waiting for him at the shore.

"What do you want me for?" he asked.

"Do you know how the Clans will die?"

"_What?_"

"You heard me. How will the Clans die? I got visited by Bluestar in StarClan and she said that the Island was where the Clans would die. So exactly how will the Clans die?"

"Um…" Braveheart wasn't comfortable with sharing this information with another cat, even though he had planned to share it with Lakepaw.

"Hello? I'm waiting!"

"Um… they'll be destroyed at the gathering…tonight. For some reason, all the

water in the Lake will blast out of its hole, and all the Clans will die."

Lakepaw looked astonished. "Then we need to warn Twigstar!"

"Then do it."

Lakepaw looked even more surprised, but started to run back to camp, and slammed on something invisible.

Braveheart padded over to her. "StarClan won't allow it."

"Why?"

"They might think that if there are too many cats, there may be too much prey needed, and we would all die out anyways, maybe because of the queens and elders and kits are too weak."

"Ahem."

"Okay, that was a little brutal. Just focus on the words _StarClan won't allow it_ and forget everything else I said."

"Then we leave tonight."

"Yes."

"Then we'll need to prepare. I just hope the other six will be waiting for us."

The two cats padded back to the camp, the sky turning ever darker every heartbeat.

"…and, Lakepaw, you'll come to the Gathering, too." said Twigstar.

Braveheart's heart sank. Lakepaw was going to the Gathering. She might not even be able to escape!

He ran up to her. "We'll need your help." he said. "This is what you'll do…"

As he spoke, he realized that after today, he would never see his Clan- his mate, his leader, his medicine cat- ever again.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Terry, a World War III bomber plane pilot, put on his army camouflage suit and walked out of his cabin in the lowest level of the aircraft carrier, painted light gray. The slowly setting orange sun turned the clouds golden, blanketing the sky in a cover of red.

Terry looked at it, squinting his eyes. This would be his first- and could possibly be his last- flight. His mission was to bomb the area around and in-especially the north- of the Hare Hill Woods, where they suspected the enemy Spanish camp was located, where they could have built an airfield, base camp, and command center in. It was not going to be an easy mission. They suspected that there was a whole fleet of planes flying around the area 24/7- until they discovered a loophole in the timeslots. He reported to commander Lewis Hubbard "The Glacier".

"I'm ready to fly, sir." He reported, saluting.

"Good." He replied. "Now go and show the Spanish what we've got up our sleeve." He chuckled.

Terry ran back to the deck and boarded his plane, and said to the radio, "Terry Kimpson, plane number 23451, ready for flight. Mission, infiltrate."

The radio replied back, "You may take off."

Terry cruised to the back of the carrier and waited for the signal.

He took a look around. This could well be his last sight of a peaceful scene.

Once the red light changed to green, he pulled back the throttle and his plane slowly gained speed and hurtled across down the carrier- and just as his plane reached the end of the carrier, he shut his eyes, scared of what would happen next.

He felt a dropping feeling and suddenly got pressed to his seat. He was alive! He pulled the engines to the max and sped across the ocean- towards land.

A few hours later, he saw smoke coming across the horizon. He turned on his headlights. The sky was slowly turning darker.

When he reached the beach, it was almost midnight. He would approach Sanctuary Lake soon.

When he started to fly over land, he saw the source of the smoke- countless fires in the deep forest. He flew over.

All of a sudden, he saw a shimmering lake. He saw the moon reflected in the water. It was full. It looked so peaceful, Terry didn't even realize that he'd crossed the enemy camp. He turned around and flew back.

He was finally in the perfect place to release the bomb! Just as he was about to release it, he saw countless shadows on a small island-and more crossing a fallen tree.

He stayed perfectly still, not realizing that he was off task. He headed for the fires.

All of a sudden, he felt his plane teeter. A shadow zoomed past him. An airplane! He tried to maneuver out of the plane's trajectory, but the plane kept unbalancing him. He decided to go in for the kill. He swooped down and pressed the 'medium launch' button. All of a sudden, he felt a sudden shudder. The plane had hit his tail! He tried to keep his plane balanced, but it kept wobbling from side to side! He couldn't control it.

All of a sudden, his plane, 300 meters above ground, started to tip vertically. It was going to smash into the lake! He tried -in vain- to control it.

All of a sudden, he saw a shadow heading straight towards him. It was another plane! They were going to crash into each other!

The other plane crashed into him just as the timer for launch started.

'Five…'

His plane flew backward.

'Four…'

His plane started to go vertically down.

'Three…'

He felt blood trickle from his hands.

'Two…'

He felt the plane shake violently.

'One…'

He accidentally pressed the 'Electrobomb' button.

'Zero!'

The electrobomb started to load.

'Releasing bomb.'

'Five!'

Terry heard the bomb fall.

'Four!'

Terry waited.

'Three!'

Terry glided over the lake, his plane now upside down, still tipping.

'Two!'

Terry heard the bomb fall, then heard a splash and a loud _boom!_ as the bomb exploded. He felt a sudden force push his plane up and it was thrown into the air.

'One!'

Terry thought about everything that had been good in his life.

'Zero!'

It had been a short one-22 years.

'Releasing bomb.'

Terry heard the bomb fall again. All of a sudden, he saw arcs of electricity circle his plane. The electrobomb had triggered.

He started to fall across land.

Just before the impact, he thought he saw eight silhouettes –of cats, maybe?- staring at his plane.

And he blacked out just after he saw the silhouettes get blown away by the force of the impact.

Terry woke up to find that he was sitting in a forest. He tried to stand up- but couldn't.

He was a cat.

He leapt backwards in astonishment- then collapsed. It was hard getting used to this body.

Just at that moment, a gray-blue cat stepped out of the shadows.

"Who are you?"

"I am Bluestar."

She flicked her tail.

All at once knowledge came flooding into his mind- how to catch prey, how to fight like a Warrior, where to find the four cats.

Bluestar spoke.

"_Darkness shall rise,_

_Light shall fall,_

_It will take one cat to destroy it all._

_A great hero will be lost, then found,_

_And the true hero shall sink, slowly, into the ground."_

"What?"

Bluestar had already disappeared.

He knew exactly what to do know. He closed his eyes and felt himself get swirled up in a mass of light.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself in the center of the PineClan camp.

He closed his eyes and went to sleep, waiting for the four cats to come.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Lakepaw padded over to the camp entrance. She was still nervous. Despite having gone over the 'game plan' at least 4 times with Braveheart, she was still nervous. Nowadays, it wasn't easy to get off the Island during a Gathering. After various 'incidents' regarding a bunch of squabbling kits, the felling of a leader's branch, a gigantic hunk of twoleg stuff and the arrival of quite a number of unexpected visitors, two guards had been posted and guarded the tree-bridge to make sure nobody entered or left the Island to cause any more trouble.

She still wasn't sure that it would work, and she definitely wasn't sure that it was the right thing to do.

As she slipped into the forest, she felt eyes scorching her pelt. She instinctively knew that it was Braveheart.

Twigstar slowly led the way to the Island, via ShadowClan territory and RiverClan territory. As they went along, Lakepaw still doubted that it was a good idea.

There were cat counts at the beginning of the gathering, Braveheart had reasoned, so running away before that wasn't an option. They would scour the entire Lake searching for her, and their 'mystery' rendezvous point would be found out, and they would be exiled, and probably waste so much time waiting that they would probably get killed as well.

So instead, Braveheart had proposed that she sneak away while the cats shared tongues. Nowadays, most cats had more friends in other Clans than in theirs. Therefore, it would be harder for the leaders to see her running away as more cats crowded around blocking the view.

Of course, Braveheart had said, getting to the fallen tree wasn't the problem, it was the guards that was the problem. Thankfully, Braveheart had been to enough gatherings to know exactly where the guards were. They were always located at the end of the fallen tree, on the Island, looking at the land. Luckily, he had been guard once, and he knew that guards usually would position themselves near a bush, out of sight to the leaders. She could secretly ambush them.

There were four things that worried Lakepaw.

One, the bush wasn't out of earshot. All cats could hear a cat yowl from there when they were sitting on the far side of the island. If she ambushed them, and it went badly, all the cats on the Island would be able to hear the fight.

Two, she didn't know who the guards were. If one of them was ThunderClan,

then she might not have the bravery to ambush them, to get to safety.

Three, she wasn't familiar with the layout of the Island. She had never been there before. She didn't know exactly where the bush was, and could only guess where it was from the information Braveheart had given her, and from her first few steps on the Island.

Four, the guards were always warriors, never apprentices. She was only one apprentice, and she was outclassed and outnumbered. There was little chance that she would make it off the Island.

She slipped on her first step.

"Whoa!" she yowled, unsheathing her claws and clinging on for dear life, legs hanging from under her.

All of a sudden, she felt a wrench in her front paw and was heaved back onto the fallen tree.

"Don't be embarrassed," Cinderfeather said. "Apprentices usually slip on their first try."

Barely able to keep her balance, Lakepaw finally flopped onto the island. "Thank StarClan!" she muttered.

She carefully walked onto the island, not knowing what to expect. She saw the Great Oak that the other older apprentices had always been talking about. She quietly chose a spot near the fallen tree.

Cinderfeather saw her and padded over to her. "It's not usual for an apprentice to be so quiet on their first gathering, and to sit so far away from the thick of things."

_Mouse dung!_

Luckily, Cinderfeather didn't question her more, and padded into the throng of cats.

Lakepaw shifted her paws and waited to see who the guards would be.

Pinestar let out a yowl from the lowest branch of the Great Oak to signal the beginning of the Gathering.

"To start off the Gathering, the leaders have decided to send Cinderfeather, Icewing, Reedfur and Toadspring to guard the tree-bridge." Pinestar meowed.

Whoops.

She had forgotten to get away before the warriors had even assembled.

Of course, Braveheart had forgotten to tell her when the guards were assembled. He had probably forgotten. Besides, the cats seemed a little more quiet today. Not much sharing. Just sitting. Harder for her to sneak away.

_Great. Just great._

The four cats took up their places, and Lakepaw could swear that she could see Icewing fidgeting, eyes darting from side to side, like plotting escape tactics. Was it possible… no. There were tons of cats around the Lake. The chances of one coming to the Gathering _and_ being a guard were just too small. She was probably just the jumpy kind.

Pinestar then started to speak.

"So, now. In ThunderClan, we are suffering like you are. On other details, we have a litter of kits that will be born in just under a moon. Two litter of kits have been made apprentices, and we welcome Lakepaw, Emberpaw, Darkpaw, Moonpaw and Bumblepaw."

The Clans cheered for the five cats.

"Now, we also have three new warriors. Mistypaw, Firepaw and Greypaw are now called Greyfoot, Fireblaze and Mistyfrost."

The clans cheered again.

"Now finally, Haretail has asked to stop being a warrior and retreat to the elders' den. We wish him many moons of peace."

Then Hawkstar stepped forward.

As he was going through the list of kits that had just been born, Lakepaw slipped away while the cats were cheering.

As she neared the tree-bridge, she kept to the shadows. She didn't see any guards. She was about to make a mad dash for it when she saw Icewing of RiverClan jump out of the bushes and hightail for the tree-bridge too. Lakepaw immediately jumed out from where she was hiding, startling Icewing.

"Where are you going?" Lakepaw asked.

Icewing turned, terror in her eyes. "Um- nowhere! I was… erm… well…"

Lakepaw was a little taken aback. Icewing _was_ a part of the group of cats!

Icewing seemed to realize the same thing for her and hissed, "This way." They both ran for the fallen tree.

They were almost at the shore when a voice came from behind them.

"And just what do you think _you're_ doing?"


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

After the cats had left for the gathering, the Camp went back to sleep. The kits were already fast asleep, the elders were bickering and the warriors were taking fresh-kill from the pile.

Braveheart walked out of the camp as he normally would, to not raise suspicion. He was almost out when a voice behind him asked, "Where are you going?"

Braveheart turned around to see Brackenthorn behind him. "Oh, just some night hunting, that's all."

Brackenthorn nodded and added, "Be careful what you catch. We don't want you to get sick too."

Braveheart nodded in reply and left.

Now, he would have to get to the Horseplace. He ran to the lake, and then kept low as he journeyed around the Lake just in case any patrols spotted him. Once or twice a ShadowClan or RiverClan patrol got very near, but if they recognized him, they didn't show.

As he crept along the fallen tree, he had to wait for the cats who were coming to the gathering to go up the tree-bridge before he could keep going. He knew that the cats could smell him, but he hoped that they would think that he was coming to the gathering too.

As the last cat got on, he sniffed the air and turned his head around. His gaze rested on… him.

Braveheart's heart started to beat. He ducked even lower.

The cat stared for a long time, then shook his head and padded onto the fallen tree.

When all the cats were out of sight, Braveheart crept towards the Horseplace.

When he got there, he realized that there were already five cats sitting just outside the fences. He padded towards them. "Hi."

The cats, deeply engaged in conversation, jumped. They looked at him suspiciously and asked him, "Where are you going?"

Braveheart said, "The Horseplace."

Their fur relaxed and asked him, "Where's your apprentice?"

_How could they know?_

A brown tom came up to him and said, "Well, all of us have apprentices, one of which was made warrior very recently." He looked at a dark blue she-cat that smelled of RiverClan.

"Yes. My apprentice, Icewing, was made warrior very recently and Hawkstar asked her to be one of the guards at the gathering. She accepted before I told her."

One by one, the cats introduced themselves: Mudpelt and Antpaw from ShadowClan, Breezefur and Hillpaw from WindClan and Riverpelt from RiverClan.

Braveheart shifted his paws. He wanted to leave this place as fast as possible, considering what would happen.

Breezefur shifted his paws. "I want to be on our way. Let's hope that the other two get here soon. I don't want to wait for so long."

All of a sudden, a screech came from the Lake.

Braveheart got onto his paws. "I'll go check."

"Don't be long." Breezefur replied.

Braveheart raced towards the sound. He tore through bushes and ran into trees, but the one thing that made him go on was the sound.

The sound of his apprentice screeching.

He burst out of the bushes and saw Lakepaw being trapped by a certain cat.

He immediately roared with anger and yowled loudly. The cat was stunned enough for Lakepaw to squirm away. The cat growled, "I'll get you!" and he ran towards them.

Lakepaw yelled, "Icewing!" and she bolted, Braveheart following closely behind.

Soon, Icewing caught up. She was panting as she struggled to keep up. "We have to warn them!" she yelled over the wind.

"Let me do it." Braveheart yelled back.

He put on an extra burst of speed and sped back to the horseplace.

As soon as he saw the five cats sitting there, he yelled to them, "A cat's chasing us! Our plan will be revealed and the Clans won't be saved!"

The cats pricked up their ears and made a dash for it.

"Everyone to the hillside!" Braveheart yelled. "We'll be able to lose him! Go!"

Braveheart, once again, dodged trees and weaved through bramble thickets and in the end got to the foot of the hill first. He slowed down to wait.

Lakepaw was the first to arrive, closely followed by the others. "Mudpelt told us," she panted.

The others paced around, wondering what to do next.

"Let's climb the hill. We'll be safe up there." Braveheart said.

Without arguing, they trekked up the hill, all panting from their run.

As they were about to reach the top, a hiss came from behind them.

The cat who had chased him and Lakepaw, growled, "If you don't come back, I'll make sure this is your last day alive."

Braveheart slowly backed away from the cat, up the hill.

Until he heard the whistling.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Cinderfeather listened to the leaders speak. They were talking about everything that had happened the past moon, especially about all the new kits that had been born. Cinderfeather reviewed the count of kits she had been doing mentally- all together, 21 kits this moon. She though that things were starting to get a little out of hand.

There was still WindClan.

Fleetstar jumped onto his branch and spoke so softly that Cinderfeather couldn't hear him.

His deputy, Clawfur, whispered to him urgently.

He then raised his head and spoke loudly, "WindClan has had no kits this past moon."

Everyone quieted down.

"No kits?" Twigstar asked. "Not even a pregnant mother?"

"No." Fleetstar said, barely audible.

All the other cats murmured in sorrow for WindClan.

"Right." Twigstar yowled. "Was there anything else that was supposed to be reported?"

The other leaders shook their heads.

"Then, this Gathering is-"

His words were cut short by a horribly loud whistling noise.

"What was that?" Twigstar yowled.

"Probably nothing." A RiverClan warrior said. "Twoleg stuff is so common these days, it's like it falls out of the sky!"

"Good." Twigstar said, heaving a sigh of relief.

A splash was heard.

"Probably what fell just now," The warrior spoke again.

"Good. Then everyone, back-"

All of a sudden, a horrible groaning noise came, and waves surrounding the island grew bigger. Bubbles popped to the surface of the water.

The guards came rushing into the throng. "The Tree-Bridge has been covered by water!"

The water kept rising, making the space on the Island smaller. Cats huddled together as the water slowly forced its way through to he heart of the island- the Great Oak. Cats yowled in terror.

"Everyone!" Twigstar yelled. "Keep-"

All of a sudden, a horrible noise came- like a hundred thunderclaps at once. A red ball of fire slowly expanded under the Lake, until it the fire reached the surface- and all of a sudden, a gigantic wave rippled outwards from the center of the Lake, even taller than the tallest tree, wider than the widest mountain. And it was headed straight for the Island.

Cats screamed in terror. The wave grew closer and closer...

_StarClan, save us!_

The wave reached the shore of the Island and slammed down on the shore. A huge wave of water gushed towards Cinderfeather. She screeched with fear as the water came crashing down on her.

She couldn't breathe. She couldn't feel. All she was thinking of was to swim up and survive. She could feel a force pushing at her, like an invisible hand. It pulsed relentlessly, push after push. She used all her energy to kick up, and with her lungs bursting, and her thinking blurred, she finally forced her way to the surface. All around her, cats screeched as they got pulled under. She desperately tried to stay on top, but it was too much. All she could see was the tops of the hills now. Not even the forest, which should have been visible, was gone.

Her legs stopped. She was too tired. She sunk into the murky depths of the Lake.

_Braveheart, I'm so sorry._

As she sunk, a kindly face stared at her, made from countless bubbles.

She couldn't speak, but the cat said, _Do not fear. It is not his time to die._

She couldn't think, and the only words in her mind were, _Braveheart, I'll see you in StarClan when your turn comes. I love you._

The cold hands of death closed around her.


	10. Chapter 9

3

**The Fifth Clan**

**The Fifth Clan**

3

3

Chapter 9

The cat turned around. A black thing was dropping through the air, just like Firestar had said. Braveheart yelled to his friends, "Run!" and they bolted. The cat saw this and ran towards them.

The center of the Lake glowed red. Slowly, the middle of the Lake expanded and the red ball kept growing. All of a sudden, a hug wave rippled towards them, even taller than the hill they were on. Braveheart still was too slow. The wave came too quickly.

All of a sudden the cat turned around, saw them escaping, yowled, and ran towards them, claws unsheathed. Braveheart leaped over the hill just as the huge wave slammed against the slope of the hill. The cat screeched in terror as the wave slammed against him, knocking him against the hill, then dragging him into the Lake. The water still kept creeping up the hill, and Braveheart knew that the water would soon overflow.

He couldn't see the trees in ShadowClan and ThunderClan territory now. The only things that he could see were the hills on WindClan territory.

"We're not safe yet!" he yowled to his friends. "Everyone, get off the hill!"

The cats raced down the hill, panting from their previous run uphill. They whipped through the long grass, not even caring about their aching pads.

Not a moment too soon. Just when they had reached the bottom of the hill, the water poured out, like a pool of water overflowing. It loomed over their heads, like a huge watery cover. Braveheart yelled, "Run!" and they ran again, racing towards the lights of the Twolegplace far ahead. About halfway there, they heard another splash.

"What was that?" Icewing asked.

Arcs of lightning shot outwards from the center of the Lake, shooting towards the ground. Wherever the lightning touched the ground, the grass burst into flames, but then got extinguished as quickly.

Water was also gaining on them. All of a sudden, Braveheart remembered the story of Strongtail, the cat who fell into the Lake during a thunderstorm and got shocked, even though the lightning had only shocked a spot forest-lengths away from him…

He yelled, "Don't touch the water!" and ducked just as a blob of water hit the ground in front of him. Water splashed clean over his head. He swerved and ran around the puddle. He kept ducking and running for ages. Suddenly, a tree in front of him got hit by an arc of electricity and started to burn and slowly, with a mighty groan, started to come down on him. He yowled in horror and immediately ran away. Everything was happening so fast, he could barely see the others. He didn't care right now, he realized with a shock. He was only concerned about saving himself.

Grass kept bursting into flame, but then it was extinguished by the black tide behind him, which was slowly gaining on him. Soon he would be swallowed up. He felt water touching his tail and thought, _This is it. Starclan, pleae guide me to you safely._

But he realized that the water was just a tiny wave now, about as big as the waves that came up on the lakeshore. He was still alive, too, which was good. He didn't know why he hadn't been electrified, but he didn't really care. Honestly, who cares about getting electrified while you're running away from possible death?

He wasn't safe just yet.

Lightning was still arcing from the Lake. One hit a tree and burst it into flame. The lightning then kept going, bursting tree after tree into flame. Finally, with another groan that sounded like the world collapsing, the trees fell down, setting the grass on fire, creating a fiery wall in front of Braveheart. He screeched with fear and raced along it.

It looked like it would never end, but after a long time, he found a place where the water had doused the fire. He raced through and discovered the rest of the cats sitting in a circle.

"What are you doing? It's not safe here!" he screeched to them.

"Well, we're out of the worst of it." Lakepaw replied. "Let's rest here for a while, okay? We're really tired from all that running and dodging water blobs."

As she spoke, a bolt of lightning hit the tree behind the group. The cats seemed to realize what Braveheart meant, and the sped away. Pretty soon, they had split up again.

Braveheart sped away from the Lake. Twolegplace was just a couple of fox-lengths away. There was no time to lose. He ran straight for it, and he found his companions, who had taken a different route, running alongside him.

They stopped at the edge of twolegplace, and found out that the lightning was consistently striking the similar patches of grass every time. They had passed the edge of the lightning strike zone.

Braveheart stopped running and yowled at his companions to do so. They skidded to a halt, and looked back at their home- flooded like a pond. Only the hills were preventing the water from spilling over.

Suddenly, a bright light shone into Braveheart's eyes. He looked up and saw a flaming ball hurting towards them.

"Run!" he yowled to his companions.

All of them started to run into Twolegplace, but they were too slow. The ball of fire slammed into the ground, and Braveheart was pushed against the wall of a Twoleg den. Then a piece of shiny material hit Braveheart on the head, and he blacked out.


	11. Chapter 10

3

**The Fifth Clan**

**The Fifth Clan**

3

3

Chapter 10

"Skywatcher!"

Sharpclaw looked at the cats who were approaching him.

"Leafstar!"

Although Sharpstar could feel Dapplepelt's body against him, he looked forward. He saw his mother, his old clanmates, all padding towards him with stars on their paws.

Leafstar spoke first.

"Are you ready to receive your nine lives?"

Sharpclaw, breathless, nodded.

Sharpstar came down from the Skyrock to yowls of approval and happiness from the Clan. His daughters, Honeyflame, Flowerpetal and Leafrain bounded towards him while his mate, Cherrytail, stood back a little.

Sharpstar bounded towards his children and purred with joy. Honeyflame said, "I can't believe that you're the leader of SkyClan now!"

_I can't believe it, either._ Sharpstar could still feel the power of the nine StarClan cats coursing through him. He felt like he could protect his entire clan single-handedly, with simply his paw. He was so proud of his Clan. The day before, Leafstar had died and joined StarClan, and he had grieved for her. She had died at an old age, and he feared that his time would be short, for she had lived a very long time.

He bounded up to the Skyrock and yowled, "May all the cats old enough to catch their own prey come here beneath the Skyrock for a Clan meeting!"

All the cats came out of the dens, and came to the bottom of the Skyrock. They sat in a circle, waiting for him to give them the message.

He had thought about the deputy that he would have for a while, but he knew who to choose. As the last cat came, he yowled, "I say these words before the dead spirit of Leafstar, so that she may hear and respect my choice." He paused for a while, then continued, "The new deputy will be Rockheart."

Yowls of approval rippled through the Clan. Rockheart was a cat who listened to everyone, respected their decisions, and was very kind-contradictory to his name. But he didn't even so much as complain about it.

Rockheart climbed up to the Skyrock, where Sharpstar touched his nose on Rockheart's shoulder.

"Make your Clan proud, young deputy." Sharpstar murmured into his ear. "Be the best that you can be, and that is all you can do."

Rockheart blinked gratefully at him.

After the ceremony, Sharpstar told Rockheart to prepare the evening patrols while he padded back to his den. He was quite tired. When he entered the cave, he found Stormwing putting down a piece of moss. When she saw him, she jumped back in shock. "Um- Rockheart just told me to go ahead of you and put some fresh moss and prey in your den." He stuttered.

"Then thank him for me." Sharpstar replied. "You can leave now," he added when Stormwing didn't move.

After Stormwing left, Sharpstar lay down in his nest. He was tired, even though it was only sunhigh. He felt like he had walked across to where Firestar had come from. He fell asleep.

Afterward, he wished he hadn't.

He was at a huge body of water- a Lake, he realized. He'd never seen one, only heard. He stood on the ridge, looking down at the vast swath of water before him. But he didn't have much time.

His view zoomed in to an island in the middle of the lake. He saw various shapes go over a tree trunk that had fallen over the water, onto the island. But he realized that this looked frighteningly similar to a Gathering- like Firestar had told him about. He realized that some cats were even swimming over to the island. He froze.

They looked suspiciously like RiverClan cats- a Clan of cats that were very comfortable in water. Some cats had thick, stocky bodies- like the kind Firestar and Sandstorm had when they came. They looked like ThunderClan- Firestar had described them to him as made to hunt prey in forests. Another Clan had thin, lithe bodies- WindClan. What was going on? Why did these cats bear a striking resemblance to the four Clans?

But after the "Gathering" started, he noticed two shapes crossing the tree-bridge, closely followed by a third. The two were escaping- Sharpstar realized- and they were being chased.

But suddenly, he saw a ball of fire come through the sky. At first, he had never seen it. It was like the fireball had just appeared. But then, a huge, black thing that looked like it had been made by Twolegs (the smoothness gave it away) fell from the raging inferno and into the lake.

And it exploded.

A group of cats ran past him, jolting him from his staring. They probably had known about this for moons already. With the time the explosion gave, he knew that there had been very little time to escape. But as he peered down, he saw two cats facing each other on the hill below him. One was backing up, and the other was stalking him.

The Lake had reached the bottom of the cat's tail now. The cat looked back and screeched in terror, but it was too late. The fiery yellow ball in the center glowed, illuminating yet another object falling into the Lake. But this time, arcs of lightning raced from the drop zone.

The cat backing away had jumped down the hill. But Sharpstar stood there, in shock.

He fiery ball in the sky fell straight towards the group of running cats.

Sharpstar wanted to yell, to tell them to get out of the way. But he watched as the fiery ball fell directly into the group of cats, creating a burst of light so blinding that he had to look away.

Suddenly, he jolted awake in his den. Thunder and lightning rumbled in the distance. Inside, he knew that the dream hadn't just been a dream. His legs were weak, his head was spinning and his ears were ringing. In his gut, he knew that the cats on the island had been the Clans. He didn't know what was going on, why the Clans had moved, but one thing was for sure- that scene had been real.

_Something terrible is happening,_ he realized. _And we are the Fifth Clan- SkyClan. And we are the last Clan as well._

_Something terrible is happening._


	12. Rushing Water

**Rushing Water**

1

**Chapter 1**


End file.
